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“Dragons are more intimidating.”
“Huntley, I don’t like this.”
“If they’re plotting against us, they’ll know I’m suspicious of them. And if they aren’t plotting something, then they’ll know I’ll always anticipate their treason. A direct confrontation is the best tactic in this scenario. I’m not afraid of them—and they need to know that I won’t hesitate to burn them all if I feel like it.”
My arms remained crossed over my chest, the fear making my heart race. We’d enjoyed peace for so long, and I didn’t want to revert to a time when I feared for my husband—and now my family.
He watched the emotions dance across my face. “I tried to avoid this.”
“I needed to know.”
“But our children don’t, so this stays between us. They were raised in a very special time, a time when the world was a good place. They’ve never feared the loss of a parent or someone they love. They’re adults now and should understand what freedom means since we worked so hard to earn it—but I’d prefer to keep them naïve as long as possible.”
My arms remained locked over my chest like bars to a steel cage. I hadn’t felt this kind of despair in so long that I didn’t know how to digest it. “If we didn’t have our children, I would go with you.”
His eyes softened. “I know, baby.”
“But I can’t leave them…in case.” My chin dropped, unable to confront the possibility that I could be a widow. A queen without her king.
“You can’t leave our people either, Ivory. In the event I don’t come back—”
“Please don’t.” I closed my eyes at the sting.
He paused a moment. “Delacroix and the Kingdoms will need you to lead them, to bring them victory just as we did in the past. There’s no one else I would trust to do this except you. Not because you’re my wife—but because you’re my queen.”
He always did this—made me fall in love with him all over again. “Please don’t make me rule without you.” Just the thought brought tears to my eyes. I could never look at the sky again if he weren’t standing under it with me.
His hand moved to my cheek, and his thumb caught a tear the instant it fell. “I won’t, baby.”
Both of my hands gripped his wrists as I turned into his touch.
His thumb swiped across my bottom lip, and he looked at me the way he always did, like he might bend me over the desk and take me. “I love you, baby.”
“I love you too.”
His hand slid into my hair, and he brought me close, bending his neck so he could kiss me, catch my full lips with his authoritative mouth. He looked at me in a special way, like we were both blooming with youth and I was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. Some of the servant girls around the castle were beautiful and young, but I never saw him turn his head once. He still burned whenever he looked at me, the heat smoldering in his eyes like he wanted me then and there.
His arm moved across the small of my back, and he tugged me into him, his hand moving to its favorite spot—my ass. He squeezed it through my trousers as he backed me up to the couch in the sitting room.
My hands tugged at his clothes to get them off, to reveal his rock-hard body that could destroy mountains. His clothing fell to the floor, and mine came off and struck the rug like drops of rain. My back hit the cushions, and he was on top of me, his hips between my fleshy thighs before he was inside me with a firm thrust. His hand fisted in my hair, his stare so hard it looked angry. He fucked me like a whore but loved me like a queen.
His queen.
* * *
We fell asleep on the couch, a blanket from the back of the chair across our naked bodies. Huntley took up most of the space, so I had to cuddle so deep into him that we were practically one person—not that I minded. My leg was hiked over his hip, and our faces were pressed close together, just the way we were when we slept in our bed.
The door creaked, and then Harlow’s voice came into the study. “Father?”
We both stilled when we heard her. We turned our heads to the door.
She didn’t notice us right away, and when she did, she stilled in terror. Her eyes were so big, she looked like an owl rather than a person. The flush of her cheeks was instant, and she quickly fumbled backward to leave. “Uh…never mind.” She closed the door behind her so hard it slammed.
“Remember when we didn’t have kids?” I asked with a sigh.
“And we could fuck whenever and wherever we wanted? Yes, I remember.” He tugged me close and pressed a kiss to my bare shoulder. “But she’ll get over it. It’s not like it’s the first time.”
I should get up and dressed, but I was so comfortable against his warm chest that I didn’t want to leave. Huntley was busy most of the day and exhausted in the evenings, so we didn’t have a lot of time to be together like this, to just coexist without something needing our attention.
